Stars: Shafiq Rasul, Ruhel Ahmed, Asif Iqbal

Director: Michael Winterbottom

Summary: Four men travel to Pakistan for a holiday and a wedding but become involved with the American forces fighting terrorism. This is the true story of the plight of a group of friends who later became known as the Tipton Three, who experienced first hand the conditions in Guantanamo Bay. Winner of the Silver Bear For Direction at the 56th Berlin Film Festival.

The post-9/11 climate found the U.S. government resorting to many unorthodox methods to quash the perceived threat from further terrorist attacks. None was more controversial or more headline-grabbing than the detainment camp set up in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which was constructed to imprison and interrogate Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives captured by U.S. soldiers. Prolific British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom (9 SONGS) turns his cameras on the camp with this true story of three innocent British 20-something Muslims who were captured and held at Guantanamo for two years. Winterbottom cleverly marries extensive interview footage with the three men--Asif Iqbal, Ruhel Ahmed, and Shafiq Rasifknown, collectively known as the Tipton Three--with nerve-jarring reconstructive footage of what happened to them. After traveling to Pakistan for a wedding, the three men set out on an intrepid exploration of Afghanistan, only to find themselves captured by U.S. forces who mistook them for members of the Taliban/Al-Qaeda. The footage of the capture is intense and terrifying, with Winterbottom pulling some fearsome acting from his leads. But even that pales next to the reconstruction of their period in Guantanamo, where the men are stripped of their humanity and treated to brutal inquisition and torture methods, many of which seem untested and experimental in nature. Sometimes it's difficult to believe that one human being could treat another this way, until Winterbottom neatly intersperses more timely reminders from his interviews with the men themselves, adding further revelations to the shocking scenes the cast reenacts. Winterbottom mostly shoots on digital video throughout, and the gloomy, grainy texture of the film is perfectly used as a mirror of the personal hell these three men went through. Possibly Winterbottom's best film yet, THE ROAD TO GUANTANAMO is must-see cinema that is likely to leave its audience shaking with rage and despair.

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After Welcome to Sarajevoand In This World, The Road to Guantánamois Michael Winterbottom's most important film. Along with United 93, it's one of the most important films released by anyonein 2006. In the docudrama, which was produced for British television, Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross recount the travails of the Tipton Three, a trio of Britons detained for two years at Guantánamo Bay. How did these apolitical Muslims end up as suspected terrorists? The directors attempt to answer that question by inter-cutting interviews and news footage with recreations of their Kafka-esque journey. It starts with a trip to Pakistan for the wedding of Asif (Afran Usman). In short order, he's joined by Ruhel (Farhad Harun), Shafiq (Riz Ahmed), and Monir (Waqar Siddiqui). On a whim, they decide to visit Afghanistan: "One, for experience, and two, to help." It proves to be their undoing. First, they're caught in a bombing raid; then the Northern Alliance rounds them up as members of al-Qaeda. In the mêlée, Monir goes missing. The remaining three are shipped to Cuba, where US officials stop at nothing to coerce confessions. There's a hard-won happy ending, but it isn't easy to watch--Alan Parker's Ollie Stone-penned Midnight Expressseems downright lyrical in comparison. Further, the acting is inconsistent and the character development is sketchy. Those flaws aside, The Road to Guantánamois powerful and provocative stuff. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Year:	2006
Release Date:	March 27, 2006
Runtime:	92 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	C C D 30517
Label:	Revolution
Keywords:	Road, General, Drama, Guantanamo
Genre:	Drama